Discrimination and Harassment – Are You a Victim?
Recent studies have portrayed that employees working in California are at a great risk of becoming victims of discrimination and harassment. This primarily happens due to the nature of such cases where no compensation is offered to plaintiff for the damages that was incurred by them. Worst situations arise when the victim never raises his/her voice against these cases which somehow leads to many more employment issues at the workplace.
Fight Against Discrimination and Know Your Legal Rights
The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) of California states that discrimination which is based on disability, sex, medical condition, HIV or AIDS, medical condition, marital status, race, genetic characteristics, religion and pregnancy is prohibited. Other than that employers must further ensure that they do not discriminate the workers based on weight or height (only when the job does not permit this as a criterion). THE FEHA Act even protects employees from differential treatment until they meet the reasonable standards of a workplace environment.
Third Party Harassment and Sexual Favoritism
Along with discrimination harassment is strictly prohibited, where the employer has to take all the essential steps to stop harassment and fight against discrimination. Here, employers are liable for a harassing environment and thus any lawsuit formed for such cases, will be filed against the employer. Other than that, employers are also liable when third party members like customers or vendors harass the employees. The liability is only imposed when the employer is unable to prove that he/she is innocent and has nothing to do with the harassing situations.
California provides some of the best employee protection, but you must use the rights you have and in a timely manner. Do not wait to see what happens, you could run out of time. CALL UELG TODAY!
Photo Credit: Shutterstock/BrAt82